Clips for textile articles



April 7, 1964 F. SCHWABE ETAL CLIPS FOR TEXTILE ARTICLES Filed April 29,1963 I Ii in IIVVE TORS BY mmwwk, U-u m-w QMOIAK United States Patent()3,127,656 CLIPS FOR TEXTILE ARTICLES Frans Sehwabe and RagnarFredriksson, Stockholm, Sweden, assignors to Svenska AlrtieholagetInnova, Malrno, Sweden Filed Apr. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 276,624 Claimspriority, application Sweden Apr. 1, 1963 7 Claims. (CI. 24-2 Thepresent invention relates to improvements in clips for textile articles,for example articles of clothing, and is primarily intended as a clipfor ladies stockings.

The clip according to the invention belongs to the type of clipscomprising a plate of resilient material, said plate having an openingand a tongue movable through said opening, said tongue being connectedwith one edge thereof to one edge of the opening; the clothing held bythe clip being clamped between one or more of the free edges of saidtongue and adjacent edges of the opening.

One object of the invention is a clip of that kind which has betterclamping properties than heretofore known clips of the same kind.

Another object of the invention is a clip, the clamping properties ofwhich is increased with increasing pull by the clothing held by theclip.

A further object of the invention is a clip which is less liable todamage the clothing held by the clip than already known clips of thesame kind.

Further objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingspecification and claims, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a clip according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the same clip;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the clip according to FIG. 1 along the lineIII-III as viewed in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the clip illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are cross sections of the clip according to FIG. 1 indifferent positions to which the clip may be brought when a clothing isbeing fastened in the clip, and

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of the clip as viewed when a clothing isheld by the same.

In the drawing the clip according to the invention comprises a plate 1consisting of a plastic resin or any other suitable, bendable andsomewhat resilient material. A plastic resin of the so calledpolypropylene type has proven to be very suitable. In the plate 1 thereis an aperture or gate 2 which surrounds a tongue 3. The tongue 3 isconnected with its lower edge to the plate 1.

The aperture 2 and the tongue 3 are wave-shaped at the side edgesthereof in order to improve the clamping properties of the clip.

At the upper edge of the aperture 2 the plate 1 has a thicker part 4projecting from one side of the plate (see FIGURES 2 and 3 The thickerpart 4 is provided with a stepped recess comprising a horizontal surface5 and a vertical surface 6; the surface 5 being a plane at right anglesto the plane of the plate 1 and the surface 6 being substantiallyparallel to the plate 1. The surface 6 belongs to a portion 7 of theplate 1 which has the form of a short lip extending downwardly into theopening 2 (see also FIG. 4).

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the tongue 3 is adapted to abut with the upperedge thereof against the surface 5 of the stepped recess while the sideof the tongue, close to its upper edge, abuts against the surface 6.Preferably the tongue is provided with a recess 8 (see FIG. 4) forreceiving the lip-shaped portion 7 of the plate 1.

At both sides of the thicker part 4 of the plate 1 the latter isprovided with folding lines or grooves 9, 10

3,127,656 Patented Apr. 7, 1964 which enable the plate to be bentsubstantially to a right angle.

As will be apparent from FIG. 3, the surface 5 of the stepped recesswill be pressed harder against the upper edge of the tongue 3 if theupper part of the plate 1 should be bent to the right according to thefigure. This is an advantageous property of the clip according to theinvention, because an increased pull of the clothing which is clampedbetween the tongue 3 and the plate 1 would give cause to such a bendingforce to the plate 1.

In its upper part, the plate 1 is provided. with a slot 11 or with anyother suitable arrangement to enable the plate to be fixed to a stockingsuspender tape or the like.

When inserting a stocking or any other clothing in the clip, the upperpart of the plate 1 is to be bent as indicated by the arrow 12 in FIG.5, to the position illustrated in that figure. In this position thetongue 3 is freely movable to and fro through the opening 2 by bendingthe tongue along the folding lines 13 provided at the lower edge of thetongue. The tongue is bent through the opening according to the arrow 14in FIG. 6 to the position shown in that figure. Thereafter the tongue isinserted under a folded edge of the clothing 15, which is to be held bythe clip. Now, the upper part of the plate 1 is bent over an angle ofalong the arrow 16 of FIG. 7, to the position shown in that figure. Thetongue is then bent to its upright position along the arrow 17 of FIG.7, as illustrated. At last the upper part of the plate 1 is bent backagain, according to the arrow 18 of FIG. 7, to the original positionillustrated in FIG. 3. The last named movement is associated with acertain snap action because the tongue 3 is forced through the opening 2by the lip-shaped portion 7 of the plate 1.

The clothing 15 is now effectively clamped by the tongue 3 and, as willbe apparent from the foregoing, the clamping action is increased byincreased pressure between the upper edge of the tongue 3 and thesurface 5 of the stepped recess, when a pull is exerted to the clothing15.

In order to sitll more improve the clamping action of the clip accordingto the invention, the tongue 3 and/ or the plate 1 may be provided withrough surfaces for increasing the friction between the clothing and suchsurfaces. In addition, the tongue may be arranged to overlap the plate 1also at the side edges thereof. It is advantageous to make the plate 1of a material which has a high friction coefficient to the textilematerial in the clothing to be held. Also other clamping-improving meansdescribed in our copending application Serial No. 230,042 may beutilized in connection with the clip according to the present invention.In FIG. 8 there is illustrated how the clothing 15 is kept in place bythe clip and how the clip is fastened to a stocking suspender tape 19.

The plate 1 may be produced by moulding, whereby the tongue and, in somecases, also the upper part of the plate can be moulded in a position, inwhich they are bent to substantially right angles to the rest of theplate. If necessary the mould can be made in three parts for enablingthe slot 11 to be made during the moulding. It is also possible tosubstitute a fastening means according to FIG. 6 of our co-pendingapplication Serial No. 230,042 for the slot 11.

We claim:

1. In a clip for textile articles; a plate with resilient properties;there being a U-shaped opening in said plate; a tongue in said opening;said tongue having a bottom edge, a top edge opposite to the bottom edgeand two side edges; the bottom edge being connected to the plate and theupper edge engaging the adjacent edge of said opening; there being astepped recess in said adjacent edge; said tongue being adapted to abutwith a side thereof against a first surface of said recess, said firstsurface being substantially parallel to said plate and said tongue;

said tongue being further adapted to abut with the upper edge thereofagainst a second surface of said recess, said second surface beingsubstantially at right angles to said plate and said tongue; said platebeing foldable along folding lines or grooves therein; said foldinglines or grooves being located substantially in the extensions of saidadjacent edge of said opening at the sides of the latter; said secondsurface of said recess being so laterally displaced in its own plane,perpendicularly to the plane of said plate, that said upper edge of saidtongue is pressed against said second surface when said plate is bent inone direction along said folding lines, and removed from said secondsurface when said plate is bent in the opposite direction.

2. A clip as claimed in claim 1; wherein said first surface of saidrecess is located on a portion of said plate which has the shape of ashort lip; said lip extending downwardly into said opening parallel tosaid tongue.

3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1; wherein said first surface ofsaid recess is located on a lip-shaped portion of said plate; saidlip-shaped portion extending downwardly into said opening parallel tosaid tongue; said folding lines being so located in relation to saidlip-shaped portion, that by folding said plate in one direction to anangle of substantially 90, said lip is disengaged from said top edge ofsaid tongue, so that said tongue is movable to and fro through saidopening past the upper edge thereof.

4. A clip as claimed in claim 1; wherein said recess is formed in aportion of said plate which is thicker than the rest of the plate.

5. A clip as claimed in 1 wherein said tongue has a recess in one sidethereof for receiving said first surface of said recess in said plate.

6. A clip as claimed in claim 1; wherein a folding line or groove isprovided in said tongue at the bottom edge thereof.

7. A clip as claimed in claim 1; wherein said plate is made of amaterial with such properties that it endures repeated folding alongfolding lines, preferably a plastic resin of the polypropylene type.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 513,772Farmer Ian. 30, 1894 1,554,448 McKnight et a1 Sept. 22, 1925 2,098,821Cook NOV. 9, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,052,928 Germany Mar. 19, 1959160,738 Switzerland June 1, 1933

1. IN A CLIP FOR TEXTILE ARTICLES; A PLATE WITH RESILIENT PROPERTIES;THERE BEING A U-SHAPED OPENING IN SAID PLATE; A TONGUE IN SAID OPENING;SAID TONGUE HAVING A BOTTOM EDGE, A TOP EDGE OPPOSITE TO THE BOTTOM EDGEAND TWO SIDE EDGES; THE BOTTOM EDGE BEING CONNECTED TO THE PLATE AND THEUPPER EDGE ENGAGING THE ADJACENT EDGE OF SAID OPENING; THERE BEING ASTEPPED RECESS IN SAID ADJACENT EDGE; SAID TONGUE BEING ADAPTED TO ABUTWITH A SIDE THEREOF AGAINST A FIRST SURFACE OF SAID RECESS, SAID FIRSTSURFACE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID PLATE AND SAID TONGUE; SAIDTONGUE BEING FURTHER ADAPTED TO ABUT WITH THE UPPER EDGE THEREOF AGAINSTA SECOND SURFACE OF SAID RECESS, SAID SECOND SURFACE BEING SUBSTANTIALLYAT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID PLATE AND SAID TONGUE; SAID PLATE BEING FOLDABLEALONG FOLDING LINES OR GROOVES THEREIN; SAID FOLDING LINES OR GROOVESBEING LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE EXTENSIONS OF SAID ADJACENT EDGE OFSAID OPENING AT THE SIDES OF THE LATTER; SAID SECOND SURFACE OF SAIDRECESS BEING SO LATERALLY DISPLACED IN ITS OWN PLANE, PERPENDICULARLY TOTHE PLANE OF SAID PLATE, THAT SAID UPPER EDGE OF SAID TONGUE IS PRESSEDAGAINST SAID SECOND SURFACE WHEN SAID PLATE IS BENT IN ONE DIRECTIONALONG SAID FOLDING LINES, AND REMOVED FROM SAID SECOND SURFACE WHEN SAIDPLATE IS BENT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.